


The Relentless 01

by Leila Cantrell (Rainbow_Gigglemug)



Series: The Relentless [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alien Biology, Alien Sex, Alien Technology, F/F, Far Future, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28311783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_Gigglemug/pseuds/Leila%20Cantrell
Summary: This is the first draft of this novel, the plan is to publish at some point in the future. I'm posting it here to get feedback and ideas, more the former than the later. This IS a Lesbian Romance Novel that includes sexual relations between an alien and a human! If you don't like that then shove off! On to the summery:Catalea "Cat" Remington has been the captain of The Relentless, a sturdy if old trading ship, for little lover five years with her partner Ta'Varlin Arin. They've gathered their own odd little crew, and while times aren't dire they could be better. While searching for parts in a small debris field The Relentless crew stumble upon the find of a lifetime, an honest to goodness Trixian ship! It's the find of a lifetime! It's looking like the crew's biggest and best break yet!At least, until their live cargo begin to die off, one of the crewmate attacks another, only to die hours later and any fresh food they've squirreled away on board begins to rot at an exulcerated rate. Can Cat and Arin figure out what's going on, before either of them fall prey to whatever is attacking their ship?
Relationships: Catalea Remington/Ta'Varlin Arin, OC/OC
Series: The Relentless [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073501





	1. Captain Catalea "Cat" Remington and Ta'Varlin Arin

Catalea ‘Cat’ Remington, Captain of the Relentless, sighed as she relaxed against the starship’s walls. Closing her eyes she could get lost in the rhythmic thrum of the engine, the faint hum from her hidden circuits. She could feel every muscle relaxing...

A loud crash, the sound of some pipe’s sudden release of pressurized gas and loud, virulent cursing cut through the air like a laser rifle. The hissing stopped as suddenly as it started and Catalea listened to the distinct heavy clacking of her second in command’s hooves against the ships metal floor. 

“Piece of dur akka, fix one thing and five more things break! I’m telling you we need to get to a space station or find some salvage-”

Whatever Arin was saying was lost on Catalea as she found herself drawn to the sight of the other woman’s hips as her belts shifted just right. When the target of her observation stopped moving she had to resist a pout.

“Captain, did you hear a word I said,” Arin cocked a hip knowingly, “or were you too distracted?”

“I heard you, we need to get to some salvage, since there is no way we can afford to pay a docking fee. We’ll get those parts, don’t worry.” Catalea gave Arin a bright smile.

Arin sighed, before planting a quick kiss to Catalea’s cheek, “you’re lucky you’re cute, Captain.”

“Hey!”

Arin chuckled as she turned to continue down the corridor, “come on, we both need food and you need to get Zeke’s report on our cargo. And stop staring at my ass, we’re still on shift, Captain.”

Catalea felt no shame lagging behind just enough to watch those hips again, the motion accented by Arin’s tail, “right.”

Arin shot a pointed glare over her shoulder, “Captain.”

Caught, Catalea hurried to catch up, settling for a place just beside Arin as they made their way to the mess slash meeting room. The actual meeting rooms had been filled with spare parts and cargo an age ago.

Two of their crew, the reptilian Zeke and only other human on board Johnath, were seated at the large table, while their cook, Galasha, worked something on the stove. Galasha noticed them first.

“Captain, Ma’am, what can I get for you?” 

“Whatever you’ve got that's warm, Gal.”

“Two bowls of my specialty, coming up hot.”

Catalea and Arin settled at the table while Galasha and her prosthetic arm went to work, flipping between tools and uses in an unique dance that Arin had always found particularly impressive, bearing a partial prosthetic arm herself.

“Would need nothing warm if you turned up the heat, Captain.” Zeke complained, “nine days out of ten I’m freezing my tail off.”

“You could always join Arin in the engine, it's nice and warm in there.”

Arin gave an almost feral grin from overtop Cat’s head, Zeke hissed at her.

“I’ll lose my tail first.”

Johnath grumbled into his coffee, with a long suffering eye role, “ if we turned up the heat you’d have nothing to complain about, though, would you.”

“He’d find something, I’m sure,” snipped Arin, though before she and Zeke could really get going at each other Galasha placed their bowls of soup in front of them with a thunk. She wordlessly held out the Mil’Fon hot sauce to the Chairn, long used to Arin turning anything she made into molten lava.

Arin gave her a grin, though she had the courtesy to taste the undoctored soup first. then pour a generous amount of the hot sauce into it.

“So, Zeke, how’s our cargo?” Cat asked between spoonfuls.

“Pissed off. Don’t know what you were thinking, getting live cargo this time.”

“We needed the Marks. Johnath, have you seen anything on the scanners we can use?”

“Like what?”

“We need parts,” Arin said,” she may be named The Relentless, but she’ll fall to pieces soon without something.”

Johnath reclined in his chair, and ran a hand over his short beard, Cat had to suppress an eye roll at his theatrical display.

“There might be something, looked like a bunch of asteroids to me but it’s not in the right spot. I’ll take another look, might be a ship graveyard.”

“Right, I’ll yell T’Lana to set the course, think you can get us close without scratching the paint Zeke.”

“If my hand ain’t shaking from the cold.”

“You keep complaining like that and I'll lock the temp even lower.” Arin said with an eye roll.

“Captain!”

Cat shared a long suffering look with Galasha as Arin and Zeke started up again, then focused on her food, tuning them out.


	2. The Ship

Chapter 02

“Knock that bit out of the way girlie.” Johnath said from the scanner, “she’ll make a nasty hole in our side.”

“Don’t call me girlie,” Arin said as she swung one of the Relentless’ particle cannons around, giving the trigger a tap to move the debris.

“Whatever you say, Girlie.”

“Johnath, don’t piss off the only person keeping the coffee machine working.” T’Lana said from her position on navigations in her usual deadpan voice.

Jonathan was set to snark back only for something on his scanner to catch his attention, “holy clarks, would you look at that.”

Catalea perked up in the captain's chair, “what is it?”

Jonathan’s hands were flying over his station, “Well, by the looks of this, it’s a ship.”

“We’re in a junkyard, of course there's a ship, there's at least a dozen busted ships.” Said Zeke.”

Jonathan shook his head, “this one still got some breath in her. Ran some scans already, no holes in her hull, no busted engines, nothing that would mark her for a junkyard and to top it off she’s got a pulse.”

The crew looked at one another in shared dispaliefe, “life signs?” Cat asked.

“None, not that we can see anyway, she’s flickering on the scanner, must have a malfunctioning cloaking drive. Wouldn’t have seen her at all until we gave her a kiss otherwise.”

“Can you get a make and model?” Arin asked, tail twitching.

“Gotta get closer for that, but she’s definitely high tech if she’s got cloaking.”

“T’Lana, plot us a course to get us as close as Johnath needs, Zeke, don't break my ship. Arin, be ready on weapons just in case.”

A chorus of yes captains rang across the bridge. 

The crew couldn’t help glancing at the viewscreen at every opportunity, as they got closer. It was one thing to find a dead ship for salvage, finding a possibly live ship, even it it was half dead, could mean a large stroke of luck just in the parts alone. The crew couldn’t help glancing up at the viewscreen every chance they had.

“Well shit…” All focus turned to Johnath, not that he noticed as he stared at his screen.

“...well?” Coaxed Cat.

“Captain, that’s a Trixian ship.” 

“What?”

“The scanner must be broken.”

“You sure you know how to read that thing?”

“Enough!” Cat’s voice rang through the bridge, “Johnath, You’ve not made a mistake before but I need you to check those readings again.”

“Yes captain.”

Cat’s nail dug into the arms of her chair as she, along with the other bridge crew, stared out their viewer at the mirror black silhouette, the outline the only thing truly visible due to the faint glow along the edges of the gaps in the cloaking field.

“I’ve ran the scans three more times Captain, and it’s coming up as a Trixian ship every time.”

“We found a Trixian ship…”

The crew traded looks, smiles forming.

“We actually found a Trixian ship!”

Cat found herself moving before she could think about it, landing in Arin’s lap and throwing her arms over the other’s shoulders as her crew began to chatter excitedly.

“:We found a Trixian ship!” Cat pulled Arin into a soul burning kiss which was returned with enthusiasm as strong arms caught her about her waist.. They broke apart with a shared giggle. They traded kisses and giggles for a few moments before Johnath gave a loud obnoxious whistle.

“We’re waiting on your order’s captain, you can put on a show for us later!”

Cat and by extension Arin were too excited to be upset, “what do you think my orders are? Scan that ship for dangers and get ready to board!”


	3. 32

Chapter 03

Cat let out a sigh as she stepped into her quarters. She took a moment to lean against the door then burst into a little excited jig at the thought of the Trixian ship. Arin, unnoticed as she stepped out of their sleeping area, let out a laugh, earning a yelp from Cat who froze.

“Don’t stop on my account,” Arin said as she walked closer, “I love seeing all those curls of yours bouncing around.”

Cat chuckled, giving her hair a flip, “is that the only thing you like to see bounce?”

“Hmm,” Arin moved so close that she could feel Cat’s breath, “I don’t know, maybe I should get all of you bouncing to see?”

Cat flushed as Arin slipped a leg between her’s, lips centimeters away and closing…

“Churrup chup!”

Arin sighed, and let her head fall onto Cat’s shoulder as a small floating orb fluttered over to them. Cat let out a laugh, holding out a hand. The little robot settled in comfortably, one of its hexagonal sides filling her palm.

“Feeling left out, Flutter Flutt?”

“I told you not to name them.” Arin grumbled into Cat’s shoulder, “what is it, 32?”

“I can’t help it, they’re cute,” Flutter Flutt left her hand to circle around and hover in front of Arin’s hidden face. “Even if they do have short life expectancies.”

Flutter Flutt 32 let out another distinctive chup.

Arin sighed before straightening up, “all right all right, show me.”

Cat smiled to herself as Arin stepped away, now focused on Flutter Flutt 32’s holo screen. It was times like these, when she saw evidence of Arin’s real skill and intelligence, that she marveled at the fact that that woman had followed her instead of graduating from their academy with high honors and rows of jobs awaiting her.

All to become second in command on a trading ship.

“Why haven't I married you yet?”

Arin’s tail flicked, causing the long fur, ends ragged from her work, that grew down it’s sides to fluff up, “we can never agree on the dress.”

Cat let out a snorting laugh, “what did Flutter Flutt have to show you?”

“I asked it to pull up some specs from known Trixian ships, see what we got on our hands here. Looks like it’s a research ship of all things, not much for exterior weaponry but some of the best inner defence systems ever seen.”

Cat frowned, “any way to know if they’re still on?”

Arin scrutinized the holo screen, “not until we get on board. I’ll send 32 in after we connect, it should be able to check if they’re off and send me an all clear.”

“And if they’re on?”

“Then you name number 33.”

“You’ll be careful?”

Arin smiled, crossing their space to plant a soft kiss on Cat’s lips, “I’ll be just fine.”

Arin stepped away before Cat could grab hold of her.

“Now, time for me to get into gear, you get yourself back to the bridge, last thing we need is for The Relentless to drift off without us.”

“I wish I could go with you.”

“You’re our only other pilot with enough skill to keep our ship in one pieve, unless you think Volta could do it.”

Cat winced, “you’re right, she doesn’t have the skills yet. Get going before I keep you here then.”

“Better have a cup of coffee for me when I get back.”

“I ain’t your wife!” Cat gave her customary response, a routine they had established in their first year of the academy.

After the door closed and Cat was left alone she sighed, “be safe.”


	4. The Hall

Chapter 04

“This is Arin in suit 1, do you read?” Called from the airlock, accompanied by Zeke and Johnath.

“We’ve got you loud and clear.” T’Lana replied.

“Alright, we’ve made lock, sending in 32 to check for defences.”

Arin released Flutter Flutt 32 from her hold, and the little robot shot off, as if it was excited to be doing a job for it’s creator.

Arin watched the projection of Flutter Flutt 32’s main camera carefully as it made its way through the docking tube to the Trixian ships hull and began to cut an opening. The robot took hold of the loosened metal and placed it carefully at the bottom of the tube before entering the ship. Arin’s screen was dark for a moment before 32’s light clicked on, but even without it she had seen a faint glow.

“Looks like some of the inner consoles are still working on standby.”

Flutter Fluff 32’s faint green scanner light sweapted through the small room it had breached.Scan complete it made its way towards the first door.

Arin flinched as her screen turned to static with a screech. She disconnected her view from the now lost 32’s, “Well, looks like some sort of defences are still there.”

There were curses all around.

“Now what?” Zeke demanded. “We leave?”

Arin shot him a dirty look, “next we see if we can deactivate them or get around them, the defenses didn't kick on until 32 was at the door, so we know the room itself is safe.”

“Get around Trixian tech, you out of your mind girlie?”

“No way, not going.”

Arin grit her teeth, “look-” she was cut off by an alert on her display. She blinked in surprise as she read the incoming signal.

“Arin, what is it?” Cat called.

“It’s 32 trying to establish a link.” Arin re activated her display, linking it with 32’s computer and was surprised to see it has made it into a large room.  
“I thought your little toy was dust?”

“It’s not a toy you ass, and I did too. 32 says it was just some interference that cut all signals.”

“So what, now we’re just going to waltz right in?” asked Zeke.

“Well, technically we’re going to cut our way in. On your mark Captain.”

Cat frowned, staring hard at the ship on the bridge viewscreen before nodding to herself, “alright, if we lose comms you’ll have thirty minutes to get back before we break off.”

“Captain!” Zeke squeaked.

“The Relentless’ safety comes first, we’re all dead if something happens to her.” Arin snapped, “grow a spine will you? We told you what to expect when you signed on.”

“Alright you two, that’s enough.” Cat stepped in, “Zeke, Arin is right, nothing will matter if The Relentless goes down. Arin, babe, not everyone is as badass as you, cut the guy a break.”

Arin huffed and flicked her tail, but nodded, “yeah alright, sorry Zeke.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Keep your sorries to yourself, you walking crech stalk.”

Arin sputtered in outrage and Zeke broke into a grin, shortly followed by laughter. Arin couldn’t help but join in, “you’re a little shit you know that?”

Jonath sighed and shook his head, “Captain, you sure your girlfriend’s sane?”

Cat shrugged though she knew they couldn’t see it, “all engineers are a little insane but she’s a genius, pretty sure she has to be about half crazy for that.”

“Oy, only pretty sure?” Arin quipped, “I can promise you I am, I’m here aren’t I?”

Cat waved them off with a smile, “alright, back to business, get on that ship, verify its value and get out.”

“Yes Captain.”

The group of three set off through the bridge and reached the Trixian ship in no time. Jonath and Arin pulled out their plasma cutters while Zeke stepped back and covered his eyes, a rather useless motion as the suit’s visor automatically shifted at the first detection of light.

In ten minutes they were stepping into the room Flutter Flutt 32 had scanned.

“So,” began Johnath, “I get Trixian tech is worth a lot, but why is it?”

Arin and Zeke shot him confused looks.

“Were you raised under a rock?”

“Not all of us went to hoity toity schools, girlie.”

Arin’s til flicked at the name, but she did nothing else.

“Everyone knows about the Galactic Trixian War though.” said Zeke.

“Well, obviously, not everyone.”

Arin shook her head as she moved over to the controls, “right, the Trixians were one of the most advanced beings in the galaxy. No one knows what they looked like, but everyone recognized their machines, they were far and beyond what most of the races were capable of at the time. For some reason, they decided they wanted control of the galaxy and launch and all out war.”

Arin took a moment to eye the door, “most planets fell without a fuss. If they ran into a planet with technology they didn’t know or a race they didn’t understand they would study and adapt at a frightening rate, they were a little like humans come to think of it. It was their adaptability that made them so powerful.”

She knelt by the door’s control panel and attached a small device to it.

“So if they were so great, how’d they lose?”

“They didn’t.” Zeke chimed in as Arin began to hack the door.

“What?”

Zeke nodded, eyes on his own scanner display, “the attacks slowed down and before anyone knew it they just stopped. No one knows where their home planet is so no one could check but the running idea is they’ve either retreated or died off.”

“How does a race that big just vanish?”

“Creck if I know,” Arin asaid as the door chimed then slid open. “They just did, now come on, and keep those scanners at the ready. They should see any danger.”

“How’d you do that?” Asked Zeke.

“There was a database on the Trixians back at the academy, it was part of our studies. It happened to include the override programs from all known Trixian ships, and is open to the public, just went through the list until one worked.”

“Of course there was.”

Arin ignored Johnath and pulled up her comm unit, “ Relentless, we’ve got the door open. We’re heading through now, expect temporary loss of communication.”

“Relentless copies, be safe.” Responded T’Lana.

The hall they stepped in was as dark as the room, the only light the faint glow from some guid lights and the lights on their helmets.

“Relentless, this is Arin, can you read me? We’re through the door.”

All she got back was choppy static.

“Well we expected that, let's just get to wherever your little toy got to. This place is starting to give me the creeps.”

Arin nodded, carefully starting down the hall.

“It’s because it's so quiet, The Relentless is always making noise.” Zeke held his scanner tighter, “don’t think I’m going to complain about that anymore.”

Arin paid him no mind as she discovered how 32 had managed to get into the next room. For some reason only known by the ship's last inhabitants, the door was wedged open by a large chunk of pipe. The pipe had caved, but had maintained enough resilience to hold the door open just enough for 32 to squeeze through the gap.

“Right, we’re going to need this door open.” Arin said as she holstered her scanner.

“How? Going to pull a force charge out of your ass?”

“Can it Johnath. Zeke, you’re up.”

Zeke noded, setting his motion scanner on the floor with a thunk. He eyed the pipe, “we’re not going to talk about them wedging the door open?”

No one answered as he took hold of the doors and began to pry them apart. Arin stepped back, just outside the other door, keeping her voice only loud enough for the microphone to pick up.

“The larger end is on the inside, they were trying to get out of the room.”

Cat nodded though Arin couldn’t see, “a malfunction?”

“Possible, would explain the power. But why wouldn’t the door open?”

“I don’t know, but keep your eyes sharp.”

A loud groaning screech filled the corridor as the door gave way to Zeke’s considerable strength. The pipe fell to the ground with a clang. Arin took Zeke’s place, looking over the room they had revealed, 32 the only true source of light in the middle. All other light was swallowed by a hungry darkness so strong the ships lights were oppressed, their light no brighter than the pinprick stars beyond the hull.

With an unconscious squaring of her shoulders, Arin took the first step into the ominous dark.


End file.
